Fender mechanism.



-W. F. SMITH.

FENDER MECHANISNI.

AEPLICATION FILED MAY 11, 1918.

1,293,224 Patented l "eb.4,1919`.

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3N we 1 x for,

WALTER F. S, F MINNEAPOLIS,

` ai ron MINNESOTA.

FENDER MEG? 51V! ISM;

u To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, WALTER F. SMITH, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at inneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fender Mechanism, of which the following isa specification.

y invention relates to a fender for disposition in advance of the 4front wheels of a moving body, particularly an automobile.

n carrying out the invention, it has been a desideratum to provide the parts 'few in simple and durable construction, to the end that they maybe manufactured at minimum expense and prove' eiicient in use.

ne important object is to provide a fender of this character normally disposed at anangle and movable on a pivot when it engages an object, toward the front wheels,

so as to be closer to the road and chances of the struck or engaging the wheels. enables the fender minimize This construction to normally remain such a distance above the road as to be freel from interference therewith under most conditions. v u Another object of the invention is to provide a fender, capable of lateral adjustment, to render the automobile crank and the front of the machine, Iaccessible to the' chauifeur y or mechanic. u

Further objects of the invention are to provide a fender which is cushioned in order to reduce the impact when striking an obl ject; one having the particular means which will be hereinafter described and claimed for the .purpose just mentioned;` one in which the. fender ymay p be fastened at a' higher level than normal, when an unusuallyrough or uneven road is to betraversed, and which may urge the fender to its normal position, and be shifted to hold the fender at a higher level.`

One preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 'is avew showing the inventionv in front elevation and applied to an automobile; f

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation vofan automobile having the improved -fender fastened thereto;

Flg. 3 is a view taken ongthe line 3&3 of

Specication of Letters Patent.

object falling under 'knobs 12 at th m this connection to employ aspring meansv Fig. 1, .with most of theautomobile structure removed;

Fig. 4; is a View showing a cushioning means of the fender in side elevation, in connection with a fragment of a side beam ,of the automobile chassis, and a fragment of the fender;

Fig. 5 is a top View of the parts of Fig. 4, with the spring of the fender, and a fragment ofthe fender removed; j

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view on the line 6`6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the means for fastening the fender .against lateral pivotal movement,

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view suggesting a modiied form of fender, and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a modified form.

Referring specifically to the drawing, the fender mechanism is primarily supported by rods or bars 9, one projecting beyond each side beam 'of the automobile chassis as suggested at 10 and withrwhich side beams, the rods are parallel.

by bar devices A,- which are preferably disposed at an angle obtuse to the horizontal as well shown inFig. 2. These bars or rods may be made of any suitable material or configuration, preferably having balls or eir ends, to help the ornamental eiect, and if desired, one or more of these bars maybe bent as at 13, to facilitate The fender proper comprises horizontal bars or rods 11 joined.

y Patented Feb..i,1919. 'Application and my 11. isis.v serial No. ceases.

AWi

access to the crank shaft of the automobile.

It is to be understood therefore that this particular form of fender'is shown by way of example only.

Each bardevice A comprises a bar 14 and a bar 15. Bars 14 are normally disposed at an angle and are pivoted to the rods 9 by means of bolts or the like 17 which extend through the rods at lugs 16 thereon and also through lugs 18 extending from the bars 14. Barsl rest on the 'bars 14, and one of the bars 15 is pivoted to its companion bar 1,4 by means of hinges at 19. This hinge connection permits of thebar 15 to swing iaterally to the 'bar 14 to an open position so that the two bars form a hinge.

Any suitable means is employed to releasably secure the other bar 15 against its com` panion bar '14, and one form of such means is suggested in Figsgl, 6 and 7 This means may comprise a latch having a manipula-t ing ring 20 from which an arm 21 turnably fcl ' A spring 27 is serves to normally hold a lock pin 24 in openingsor recesses '25 in these bars. The opening through which. arm 21 passes, 1n the hars 15, is a slot 26. Thus an operator may -l enga e the 'member 20, pull 'the latch outwardy so that the pin 424: will disengae the opening 25, then turnv the latch to the otted thus 'freely line position 'inFig 7. The barl 'may .i f

'the fender as a w le, especially when itis in a horizontal position, to which it may be adjusted' as the automobile. 4

fastened to the bars 14 and to another suitable part, lin this 'position being tensioned sofas to expand and maintain the bar devices in the position shown in the drawings. One end of this spring may be formed into a hook 28 to rei staple 29. On the pivots leasa'bly engage a l i7 the render as a whole may be moved -to the horizontal positlon revlou'sl referred to, and in this position, astened `y. passing. hook 28 through a staple 30 as sug-r the vest/ed by the dotted springffragment 1n i ig. e. In this position, the lspring pulls the fender towardit and thusholds 1t in a position. -The fenprincipally when an unusually roug Aor uneven read is to be traversed. v lnconnection with each rod 9,"a housing 31 and a housin housing is suitably mounted on the chassis of the automobile and preferably on' the I sides of the ,side beams 10, being fastened 'mediate the fen thereto by meansof screw through' lugs or tangs 34 thereof. ods 9 slide through the laterally extending walls of these housings which are desi .ated 35. Extending inwardly from the wa ls 35 are 'arcuate walls 36.` intermediate. the walls 35, and surrounding the rods 9, are expansive coil springs 37'.

received' by the walls 36 and they'bear against suitable abutments,'for instance pins 38, affixed to the rods 9 in order to normally Proyect the rods. AExteriorly of the housing 32. a nut 39 en erand the housin 31, the rods 9 may pass Li() if desired.'

ln order to suitably brace the housings',.

a -bolt 4 1 is fastened thereto by means of nuts 42 passing .through lugs 43 of the housings. These housings `are preferably formed in a single piece and o n the housings .31 staples vswingv away `from the bar 1 i and on thepvot 19. This hinge feature the fender is very important vinasmuch eS- o As previously explai will be later described, in: order' to permit ready access to the entire front of held in a substantially -In this yhorizontal position, 'fender is normally 'sorted to within the spirit bars 11 are shown 'at 32 are employed. Each bolts 33 assing' These springs are ages 'therods 9 and-inter.- 4

through suitable earings Lacasse against the' fender, springs 37 lwill urgev the rods9 outwardly and the springs 2'? will'urge the fender to its normal position. ed, vwhen it is desired to traverse an unusually rough road, the hook 28'is disengaged, from staple 29 and fastened to staple. 30 as suggested inFig. 4, so that the fender ,will bemovedto and horizontal position.

disposed, thev latch 20 may be operated, to permit swinging ofthe lling underand being struck Tilting on pivots 'fastened while staples fastened to the houss or while the fender laterally on the hinges or pivots 19. Since I have shown and described merely the preferred embodiment of the invention, it isv to be :understood that many changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of theparts, maybe refined by appended claims. y For instance,l a modified lform isdiagrammatically shown in Fig. 8. j

In thls form, the equivalent of rods or 50, being joined b v bars \51, 'the equivalent lof bars '15. lt will be noticed that a space 52 is provided inten mediate the bars 50. This space permits ready access to the front of the vehicle and particularly to the crank shaft. With this form,` in view of the space 52, lateral swingin movement of the fender section will se dom be needed and therefore the barsv15 and the hinges 19 4may be dispensed with. Inthe other modified form, namely of Fig. 9 the rods 9 ab e -in`bearings 50` looted Vat 51' to the side beams 10, by the-usual bolts at that location. Beyondvthe bearings the rods are formed into resilient coils 52 beyond which the rods extend downwardly at 53 andhave thel fender barsl 54 secure thereto. The coils 5.2 cushion or yieldingly support the l.fender aswill be understoodf means permitting adjustment of the iender,

a plurality of fixed fastening members, and

are sup orted by and slid-- and scope asv def llt irl

a resilient means operable to selectively engage the fastening members, to secure the fender to different adplsted positions.

2. A fender mechanism hav1ng afender,-

.means pivoting thefender fair movement on supporting means at the front of the vehicle means p1 with which the fender is associated and on spring ex which .the fender normally rests, and means hook mounting the fender for manual adjustment which the ro relatively to the said means on vwhich it surrounding said rests to permit access to the front of the walls, abutment me vehicle. said spring,

8. A fender-"mechanism having a fender, ing Walls and separated su ports at the front of the vestaples carried li the fender is attached and on with which said which the fender normally rests, said fender lectively bridging said supports, an means permit- 14. ln fender m ting manual movement of the fender away supporting the fe from one of the supports to permit access and slidin between the supports to the front of the bile sid Laeaaaa a horizontal axis, a sprin associated with members the fender, means engagea le by the spring the b to maintain the fender in a normal position, the r an means engageable by t e spring to alsov being adju malntain the fender in an adjusted position. fastening memb fender mechanism having a fender, fender, andmean means pivoting the fender for movement. on detachabl a horizontal axis, a spring associated with member. the fender, staples engageable by the spring ll. A fende to maintain the fender in a normal position, a rod extendi and staples engageable bythe spring to also havin maintain the fender in an adjusted position, slidab y d and the spring having a lug to directly abut walls .t\he staples for the urpose set forth.

4 lianism having a fender, mediate the w f a spring to fasten the fender in position, an abut the springs, walls e eyelet member, and said spring having a porwalls overlapping th tion passing through the eyelet member and ing means joining th der mechanisx member for the purpose set forth. extending fro fender mechanism having a fender, bearing walls avmg a lug directly abutting thel eyelet 1s attached. angl 6. A fender mechanism having a fender, wall and inclined pivot means mounting the said fender for upward and lateral movement to sprin permit access to the front of the vehicle to bearing Walls, and which the fender is attached. ating with said sec 7. A fender mechanism having a fender,

hicle to Whle vehicle.

9. A fender mechanisn'i having a fender, extending transvers said fender having first bars, means to hinge secure it in place.- said bars together, second bars for the n testimony fender, and a latch means associated withl signature 1n t the second bars to normally prevent movement thereof relatively. Witnesses:

l0. A tender mechanism having a fender, a rod esti-ending from the fender, bearing gaging the y engageable r mechanism havin ng from the g, second lug echanism, a nder, means ely of the said whereof, i ,h e 'presence of WALTER gs mounted by nent means on spring, said connected' to th g from said and relnforengasins the bearring, and

means eam to g a fender, fender, housing which the rod is vfender, a rod A to yieldingly i an automo- F. SMITH. 

